Ex-ASEAN billet deal prices have continued to rise lately as sentiments in China have been positive and overall allocation of billets has not been so big, though the latest offer prices voiced by ASEAN-based mills last Friday have not been achieved so far.
Offers for ex-Indonesia billet have remained at $535/mt FOB this week, after the hike by $10/mt last Friday. At the same time, market sources have reported that the latest deals have been closed at $525/mt FOB to traders “preparing for future sales to Latin America and Africa now. Southeast Asia surely can’t accept that price,” a Singapore-based trader said. Prices near this level can be achievable in Turkey too, but there have been no reports of new sales to this destination so far.
Also, some market sources have been discussing the rumor of a sale by an Indonesian mill at $535/mt FOB in the local market, which translates to around $550/mt CFR, but this has not been confirmed by the time of publication. Moreover, at least three importers said that this price level is unworkable in the country and they doubt it is true. “Here, the tradable level is similar to the Philippines, at $525-530/mt CFR [for ASEAN origin],” one of them said. Offers for cheaper Iranian billets have been limited in Indonesia and Thailand lately.
The ex-China 3SP billet reference price is at $535-540/mt FOB, up by $5-10/mt over the past week. “Raw material prices are strong, futures are also rising, so Chinese billet is unworkable [in the export market],” a trader said. The average local billet price in China has settled at RMB 3,763/mt ($529/mt) ex-warehouse, translating to $468/mt, excluding 13 percent VAT.
$1 = RMB 7.1174